


Nobody's Business But His Own

by Waddles889



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angus McDonald Needs a Hug, Campaign: Balance (The Adventure Zone), Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, merle likes angus but refuses to acknowledge it out loud because being mean to angus is his brand, sorta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:13:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27341782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Waddles889/pseuds/Waddles889
Summary: Merle was more concerned about Angus than he would like to be.Don’t get it twisted, the kid was annoying. He was a know-it-all and a brat, always showing up at the worst times and souring Merle’s mood with his high-pitched voice, but he wasn’t heartless.ORIf you saw Merle caring about Angus, no you didn't <3
Relationships: Magnus Burnsides & Angus McDonald & Taako, Merle Highchurch & Angus McDonald
Comments: 7
Kudos: 49





	Nobody's Business But His Own

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Trying to Do Better](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14589891) by [AgentNerd](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentNerd/pseuds/AgentNerd). 



> i was rereading some of my old fics i never posted/finished and i found this?? written exactly one year ago and it was already finished so like
> 
> here it is

Merle was more concerned about Angus than he would like to be.

Don’t get it twisted, the kid was annoying. He was a know-it-all and a brat, always showing up at the worst times and souring Merle’s mood with his high-pitched voice, but he wasn’t  _ heartless. _ Merle knew he wasn’t the only one on the moon with kids (though if he had to hear about Boyland one more time he might just go insane), and while he would rather drink a gallon of voidfish ichor than listen to Angus gush about his favorite Charles Chicago book or whatever it was called, Angus was still a kid. Even Merle, who indirectly caused the destruction of an entire goddamned town, drew the line at being unnecessarily cruel to children.

Well, to a certain extent, at least.

A list of reasons Angus took up more of Merle’s thoughts than he had any right to:

1.

Taako and Angus were cooking something. Merle didn’t want to check, because that meant Angus, ever polite, would say something to greet him and Merle would have to say something back and it would just be a complete hassle, but he didn’t mind having to hear them talking from his room.

And then something shattered on the floor, sending smaller pieces skittering across the tile.

Almost instantly, Merle heard Angus scrambling to apologize and he bit back a groan. He was glad it was Taako out there and not him.

“Sorry! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, sorry sorrysorryosrry--”

“Hey hey hey, watch the broken glass, bubbeleh! I have mending, what are you doing? Don’t touch-- Angus.  _ Angus, stop.” _

The conversation got too quiet for Merle to hear, but something about the way Angus panicked didn’t sit right with Merle. Even Mavis, who was fairly polite and reserved, knew not to touch broken glass and it was better to wait for help to clean it up.

2.

A cheer erupted as Angus caught the ball out of the air, effectively stopping it before it smashed through the window to Leon’s office (unfortunately). Magnus cupped his hands around his mouth and whooped.

“Hell yeah, Django!! Nice save!” Magnus jogged over to Angus, who stared in delight at the ball in his hands, and raised his hand for a high five.

It was so brief that Merle thought he might’ve imagined it, but no, he  _ knew _ he saw it: Angus flinched, hands raising up instinctively to cover his face. He caught himself, though, quickly returning Magnus’ high five.

3.

People came back injured from missions all the time. It wasn’t uncommon to see someone stumble out of a transport cannon, nursing a bruise as they limped down to the medbay. Merle himself had gotten his fair share of injuries on missions and was all too familiar with the experience. The difference here is all of these people were adults with combat experience and Angus was a ten year old boy.

To say there was a complete panic over Angus’ return from his surface trip was an understatement.

Taako was waiting in the hangar for Angus. They had magic lessons planned, and Angus promised the case he was working on wouldn’t take long. Magnus had followed, and Merle had tagged along because he had nothing better to do.

The transport sphere docked and the door slid open. Angus stumbled out, clutching his side and flashing a toothy grin at the entourage. The only problem was that his teeth were stained red and his side was oozing blood. His glasses were cracked and askew, and upon further investigation, scrapes lined Angus’ arms and legs, his clothes were torn, and he was missing a shoe.

The Umbrastaff clattered to the floor.

Taako shoved Magnus aside and dropped to his knees, steadying Angus before he could collapse.

“Ango, what happened? Who do I need to make disappear under mysterious circumstances?” Magnus asked, following close behind Taako.

“It’s not really as bad as it looks, sirs, I promise. Most of it’s not even my blood.” Angus laughed, but winced, clutching his side a little harder. Taako shot Merle a glare and he snapped into action. He pulled out his bible and read a passage aloud. The tension somewhat dropped from Magnus’ shoulders as the gash in Angus’ side knitted itself back together.

“What were you  _ doing _ out there, kid?” Merle said.

Angus shrugged, steadying himself on Taako’s arm. “Just the usual detective stuff, sir. I tracked down the leader of a mob who had been terrorizing families who just suffered losses, so I went to check on my fa- uh,” Angus cut himself off. “I’d rather not talk about it, sirs.”

It didn’t take the world’s greatest detective to figure out what he was going to say.

There were smaller things Merle could have added to the list for hours, but there was no way he was going to spend that much time on this when he had more important things to do, like forgetting to heal Magnus and Taako or hitting up those hydrangeas in the quad.

But if Merle made sure to ask Angus about Caleb Cleveland or drop a gold piece on his lunch tray or discreetly heal up a skinned knee from afar, that was nobody’s business but his own.

**Author's Note:**

> sort of loosely inspired by "Trying to Do Better" by AgentNerd cause it's lovely


End file.
